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Water: Standards

Asked by Chris HinchliffLabourDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 27 May 2026UIN 2626

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a High Ecological Status target for the highest-quality waterbodies in England, as part of upcoming reforms to Water Environment targets.

Answered by Emma Hardy

We committed in the recently published Water White Paper to explore setting new ambitious targets for the water environment. As part of these explorations, we are considering a wide range of suggestions from stakeholders, including calls to monitor small water bodies and to set high ecological status objectives.

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